New Mapler here!

[alexandermiles]

I don't even think that's the right word, but I'm going with it! I'm Alex. Born and raised in Massachusetts! My fiance and I just moved back here from Oregon to the Cape and are looking to get into syrup farming with the limited trees we have. All for personal use, but maybe in the distant future we can make a little profit from it :) We need all the help we can get! We tried tapping a few trees but we've gotten absolutely nothing from. Hoping it was just a too-early start. We would love some input from some experienced folks here. Thank you so much in advance!

[maple flats]

Welcome aboard. Glad to have you.
Are you sure they are maple trees? Did you tap by drilling a nice clean hole 1.5-2" into the wood, angled very slightly upward. Then "tap" the spile (a maple tap is called a spile) gently in until the sound changes, not more or you could split the bark. Then wait until the weather is right. If the weather has been real cold for a few days, it will take time for the trees to thaw out. Once it begins, you will get your best sap flows when the temperatures are in the low to mid 40's in the daytime, and 27F or colder overnight. Some sap may flow outside those temps but those will be the best.
What are you boiling on?

[alexandermiles]

It has been almost the perfect weather out for tapping down here on the Cape. We did the tapping and research to do so beforehand... My issue is I think it's the wrong weather and possibly the wrong tree. I'm pretty sure they are maples, but first timer here. I could be wrong, 100% possible. We'll just pull the taps for right now as it's getting too cold again to work and try it again in a few weeks when the temp. goes back up.

[KV Sappers]

If your positive they are not maples go ahead and pull the taps. However, if there is a chance they might be maples leave the taps in and wait till the weather changes. It's not a good idea to pull taps in a tree and then re-tap that tree.

[alexandermiles]

Alright. Thank you. I'm not sure, so I'll wait until the weather warms up a little. We have a couple more trees we want to tap but we're going to wait until the time to do so has actually come first.

[mike103]

Im only 20 miles from you and my trees are not running this week, so like Dave and KV said, verify your trees and if they are maples we need to have a few days above freezing for them to start running sap. If you have trouble identifying them there are numerous guides online, or shoot me a pm and I will give you some things to look for.

[maple flats]

If you need ID help, there should be a few U-Tube videos to help. The main thing on that source is to compare several, remember, anybody can post a u-tube video and many are totally wrong. You might even want to visit another producer to learn. Most producers will share info and ideas very openly. That is one of the must refreshing aspects of the maple industry. Most other businesses try to get an edge and keep private what they do, not so in maple.

[berkshires]

Try posting pics of the bark. A mature sugar maple has pretty distinctive bark. Also, if it's a red maple it can be very finicky. I've never tapped any of my red maples, but my understanding is that people find that some red maples will run well without artificial vacuum, but many run only a little or not at all without vacuum.

[esetter]

Look for sap sucker holes , usually in horizontal rows. Look for black streaks between the bark ridges. Pick some leaves up off of the ground under the tree. More bought / raised bark on the trunk then transitioning to slick bark towards the top. These are things i look for when trying to ID sugar maples.

[unclejohn]

maples and ash trees have opposing twigs (left and right twigs come out of branches at the same point) whereas most other trees have left/right twigs that source at alternate points on a branch. this helps me eliminate elms, oaks, walnuts etc. also memorizing bark characteristics helps. find another syrupmaker near you who can walk thru your woods and help identify em. we're off to a good start in missouri and hope you get the trees identified before the flow starts. it will be fun when the sap arrives. john